India in Asian meet after chaotic build-up
The build up to the Asian Athletics Championships, starting in Pattaya, Thailand on Wednesday, could not have been more chaotic for the Indian team with doping violations and late withdrawals on the eve of the team's departure.
Shot putter Karanveer Singh, the India No.2, failed a dope test and was dropped from the squad on Saturday. There were reports of woman 400m runner Anjali Devi also testing positive. She stunned all at the inter-state meet in Bhubaneswar last month by clocking a personal best 51.48 secs. Despite being largely out of action for over three years due to injury, Anjali improved each of the three times she ran, from heats to final, in Bhubaneswar. Top woman sprinter Archana Suseendran, who did not start in the 100m heats at the inter-state meet, is also said to have tested positive for a prohibited substance.
Besides the doping fiasco, the withdrawals of Rohit Yadav (javelin), Praveen Chithravel (triple jump) and Jeswin Aldrin (long jump) came late for Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to name replacements. Yadav, who has impressed this season -- his throw of 83.40m puts him fourth in Asia – has injured his elbow. Chithravel wants to prepare for the Budapest world championships next month, having crossed 17m thrice this year and set a new national record (17.37m). Aldrin, after his world leading jump of 8.42m early in the season, hasn’t fired and is keen to fine tune his preparations for two major meets – World championships and Asian Games.
However, India will still field a strong contingent of about 50 athletes. The continental event is happening after a gap due to Covid. The 2021 edition scheduled in China was cancelled. The meet is seen as good preparation for the Asian Games in September-October.
Among the stars in action will be long jumper Murali Sreeshankar. He is riding high after a personal best of 8.41m, the world's second best this season, at the inter-state meet. Sreeshankar has crossed 8m five times this year and finished third in a Diamond League (Paris leg).
In javelin, all focus will be on DP Manu. The 22-year-old Karnataka thrower touched 84.33m at Indian Grand Prix in April. It puts him second among Asia throwers with only Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra ahead. Manu's best at the inter-state was only 76.85m, below the qualifying mark of AFI (78.23m). This will be a good opportunity for him to impress the selectors.
Shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor produced a blistering throw of 21.77m last month, the 28-year-old improving his own Asian record and qualifying for the World Championships. He defends his title at the Asian Championships. Indian shot putters though seldom match their home performances while competing abroad.
In women's long jump, Shaili Singh has an Asia best this season (6.76m), while Ancy Sojan is fourth (6.56m). In the track, woman 100m hurdler Jyothi Yarraji can be expected to return with more than one medal. She has steadily improved the last two seasons, clocking sub-13 secs in the 100m hurdles on five occasions and emerging the best Asian (12.84m) this year. It will be a good contest with Japan’s Asuka Terada (12.86secs) and Masumi Aoki (12.94secs). Jyothi is also entered in 200m.
Commonwealth Games triple jump silver medallist Abdulla Aboobacker and woman javelin bronze medalist Annu Rani will be eager to regain form. It will be interesting to see how high jumper Tejaswin Shankar performs in decathlon. The CWG high jump bronze medallist won the inter-state title logging 7,576 points. Earlier this year, he tallied 7,648 points in a US meet, which makes him fourth best in Asia this season.
At the last Asian meet at Doha in 2019, India won 16 medals including two gold, finishing fifth in the medal tally.
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